Buckeyes' pressure got to Gophers

MINNEAPOLIS - The Ohio State secondary is beat up, but the Buckeyes still went into a game last night at Minnesota counting on the Gophers to stay true to form, by passing often.

MINNEAPOLIS - The Ohio State secondary is beat up, but the Buckeyes still went into a game last night at Minnesota counting on the Gophers to stay true to form, by passing often.

"We would hope so," safety Aaron Gant said. "That would be more production for us."

Even though the Buckeyes won 52-10, for a few moments in the first half, quarterback Adam Weber and the Gophers took dead aim at the deep part of the pass defense, which has been riddled by injuries.

Weber hit consecutive passes of 35 yards to Marqueis Gray and 32 yards to 6-foot-7 tight end Tiree Eure to set up DeLeon Eskridge's 7-yard touchdown run to tie the score at 7. The Gophers made it look stunningly easy to slice up the defense, and it had all the makings of being a long night for the secondary.

But as the Buckeyes defensive front stepped up the pressure, the big pass plays came less frequent and the Gophers started throwing screens to try to slow it down. The Buckeyes, No.1 in the Big Ten in pass efficiency entering the game, had the Gophers where they wanted them.

"We made an adjustment and just pretty much tried to get after them," cornerback Devon Torrence said. "We just tried to man up on them a lot more (in tighter coverage), and we knew if we did that, we could get pressure on Weber."

It worked. Five Buckeyes took part in sacks of Weber, with middle linebacker Brian Rolle leading the way with 11/2.

Weber, who a week earlier became just the fifth player in Big Ten history to top 10,000 career passing yards, finished 9 of 20 for 162 yards with an interception by Chimdi Chekwa at the end of the first half.

The pressure continued into the second half, with a blitzing Chekwa hitting Weber and forcing a fumble that defensive end John Simon returned 30 yards for a touchdown. It gave Ohio State a 52-10 lead with 10:16 to play.

Minnesota (1-8, 0-5) is winless in eight straight games, and coach Tim Brewster was fired two weeks earlier. But if the Gophers were to have a chance, they had to try to take advantage of the middle part of the secondary. Three starters - safety C.J. Barnett and nickel backs Tyler Moeller and Christian Bryant - are lost for the season because of injury or illness.

That's how Gant and Orhian Johnson became regulars along with Jermale Hines.

Torrence had to leave the game for a while after getting hit in the head making a tackle on a wide screen in the first half, but he returned in the second half.

"I was a little woozy there, it went black for a second, but I came back and it wasn't too bad luckily," said Torrence, who passed the concussion test on the sideline before being allowed to return. "I'm just glad it wasn't a lot more serious."